Archive: October 2008
Coach Talks About Hawkins' Picking Terps
From Quince Orchard Coach Dave Mencarini: "I think it came down to him the last couple weeks focusing on things he's looking for. Opportunity, for one, and a comfort level with the coaches. You really find out a lot about who wants and needs you during this process. A lot...
By Josh Barr | October 30, 2008; 12:44 PM ET | Comments (4)
Hawkins to Terps!
Big get today for Maryland, with Quince Orchard standout defensive back Travis Hawkins pledging for the Terps....
By Josh Barr | October 30, 2008; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (1)
Spotlight on Courtland Forward Bound for Duke
Courtland forward Josh Hairston will be one of the region's top players this season. He already has accepted a scholarship offer to play for Duke. Get to know him here:...
By Josh Barr | October 30, 2008; 12:26 PM ET | Comments (1)
Big Center Heading to Texas
Just got off the phone with Good Counsel Coach Mike Hibbs, who had the news that center Julius Omoniurhie has committed to play for Southern Methodist. Omoniurhie, a 6-11 senior who moved to the U.S. from Nigeria, visited SMU two weeks ago. He visited Binghamton this past weekend and also...
By Josh Barr | October 29, 2008; 12:27 PM ET | Comments (1)
Gonzaga Center Chooses Ivy League
Shocking news here! All right, not really. Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner calls to say that center Ian Hummer today committed to play for Princeton. Hummer, a 6-7 senior, is considered exceptionally talented and had drawn interest from all sorts of college programs. But it was pretty well known my most...
By Josh Barr | October 28, 2008; 2:59 PM ET | Comments (1)
Maryland About to Add a Top Defensive Back?
Quince Orchard standout Travis Hawkins will announce his college decision on Thursday, according to Cougars Coach Dave Mencarini, and I wouldn't be surprised if Maryland makes a nice addition to its recruiting class. Among the other schools Hawkins is considering are Michigan, Oregon and Penn State. He was scheduled to...
By Josh Barr | October 28, 2008; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (7)
Chantilly Star Looking for a Chance
Colleague B.J. Koubaroulis caught up with the folks out at Chantilly and filed this report: Chantilly Coach Mike Lalli is extremely frustrated that his star running back Torrian Pace has yet to receive a scholarship offer. This is not uncommon among coaches, who are usually trying to pump their players'...
By Josh Barr | October 28, 2008; 9:23 AM ET | Comments (0)
Top Junior Chooses West Coast
Good Counsel junior cornerback Louis Young on Friday accepted a scholarship offer to play for Stanford. Young, also a top basketball player, had several scholarship offers but opted to make what is becoming a more popular pick for local players. Quince Orchard All-Met lineman Terrence Stephens also has pledged for...
By Josh Barr | October 27, 2008; 9:06 AM ET | Comments (1)
Another Kicker Discovered in Unlikely Place
Okay, so maybe Dave Ruffer isn't alone. Texas Tech might have found its new kicker during a between-quarters promotion. Seems that you make a 30-yard field goal to win a prize and that's good enough for a tryout. Here's the thing. Having dealt with recruiting for many years now, I...
By Josh Barr | October 24, 2008; 1:02 PM ET | Comments (1)
Notre Dame Finds a Player in a Most Unusual Place
From the far side of recruiting tales comes this story about Notre Dame's potential kicker this weekend. Gonzaga grad Dave Ruffer, a standout golfer in high school who did not play football, will be in uniform for the first time for the Irish and could be their kicker. Ruffer attended...
By Josh Barr | October 24, 2008; 11:43 AM ET | Comments (1)
"The Best Player You've Never Heard Of"?
Got an interesting one here. Eitan Chemerinski, a 6-9 forward at Jewish Day School, has committed to play for Ivy League defending champion Cornell, first-year JDS Coach Matt Feldman said. "He's going to be the best player you've never heard of, without a doubt," said Feldman, who previously was an...
By Josh Barr | October 23, 2008; 4:37 PM ET | Comments (0)
McNamara Sends Another Player to N.C. A&T
Got an email from Bishop McNamara Coach Marty Keithline with the news that senior Lawrence Smith has committed to play for North Carolina A&T. He will reunite there with point guard Marc Hill, the Mustangs' on-court leader the past few seasons who is now a freshman at A&T. That's three...
By Josh Barr | October 22, 2008; 4:48 PM ET | Comments (0)
Terps Land Big Forward from Connecticut
Is this a big pickup for Maryland? The Terps yesterday landed a commitment from Connecticut power forward Jordan Williams. Homestate U-Conn. Had not offered Williams, but plenty of other top teams had and he said he picked Maryland over St. John's....
By Josh Barr | October 22, 2008; 9:33 AM ET | Comments (8)
Forest Park's Jackson picks GW
Correspondent Matthew Stanmyre has another scoop out of Prince William County: Forest Park senior guard Danni Jackson, a second-team All-Met girls' basketball player, orally committed to George Washington on Tuesday night, choosing the Colonials over Wake Forest. Jackson took an official visit to George Washington this past weekend, and made...
By Dan Uthman | October 21, 2008; 9:52 PM ET | Comments (1)
Update on De'Antwan Williams
Correspondent Matthew Stanmyre caught up with Scott Enlow, a volunteer assistant coach with Woodbridge, to talk about the Vikings' running back De'Antwan Williams: The other day I talked with Woodbridge volunteer assistant coach Scott Enlow, who has been a close friend and mentor to Vikings star running back De'Antwan Williams...
By Dan Uthman | October 21, 2008; 8:18 AM ET | Comments (2)
T. Roosevelt's Drakeford Chooses Terps (Updated)
Post sports writer Alan Goldenbach breaks this news: Theodore Roosevelt senior linebacker Darin Drakeford committed to Maryland on Monday afternoon, choosing the Terps over Illinois, which has had success recruiting the Washington area (especially D.C. public schools) thanks to assistant head coach and former Maryland recruiting coordinator Mike Locksley, a...
By Dan Uthman | October 20, 2008; 2:45 PM ET | Comments (9)
James Wood's Lloyd Has the Leg
From correspondent Matthew Stanmyre: James Wood senior kicker Andrew Lloyd does not have any division I-A scholarship offers, but Colonels Coach Mike Bolin said that will almost certainly change in the coming months. Lloyd is ranked the No. 16 overall kicker in the Class of 2009 on by kicking guru...
By Jon DeNunzio | October 17, 2008; 12:09 PM ET | Comments (6)
Bealeton: Worth the Trip for Recruiters
From correspondent Matthew Stanmyre: This year, Liberty High, located in tiny Bealeton, Va., has been on the maps of many college recruiters. In addition to Kory Gough, who has orally committed to Virginia Tech, Liberty senior running back-linebacker Corey Lillard (5-foot-11, 197 pounds) has pledged to Virginia, and three other...
By Jon DeNunzio | October 17, 2008; 8:07 AM ET | Comments (0)
Waiting Pays Off for Liberty's Gough
From correspondent Matthew Stanmyre: Liberty offensive lineman Kory Gough said roughly 14 days ago that he would wait one more week to see if any more scholarship offers rolled in before making a decision about where he would play football in college. Waiting was a smart choice, because on Tuesday...
By Jon DeNunzio | October 16, 2008; 1:07 PM ET | Comments (1)
Tuberville Looks to Keep Cotton Solid
Colleague Katie Carrera has this update on Meade quarterback Ray Cotton, who previously committed to Auburn but might be rethinking things after the Tigers canned offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. Raymond Cotton Sr. said that Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville and members of the Tigers staff are visiting the Cotton family this...
By Josh Barr | October 14, 2008; 3:49 PM ET | Comments (7)
Kansas Snags Local Forward
Well, Lou Wilson told me so. The Riverdale Baptist coach told me how good Thomas Robinson was and now that the senior forward has transferred to a New England prep school, apparently others think that Robinson is pretty good too. Robinson committed to play for Kansas, choosing the Jayhawks over...
By Josh Barr | October 14, 2008; 9:29 AM ET | Comments (4)
U-Mass Plucks Pair of Local Hoopsters
Weird how these things often seem to happen at the same time, as U-Mass landed verbal commitments from two local seniors: Riverdale Baptist guard Javorn Farrell and Woodbridge forward Raphiel Putney. Colleague Matt Stanmyre chimes in with this report on Putney: Putney orally committed to play basketball for Massachusetts on...
By Josh Barr | October 13, 2008; 1:09 PM ET | Comments (1)
Top Juniors Impressive for Linganore
Spent Friday night up in Frederick County, watching Linganore rout Westminster, 58-7. The Lancers were impressive in every facet, but most surprising was that all of their top players are juniors. Offensive tackle Rob Havenstein and fullback Zach Zwinak already hold scholarship offers from Maryland and Coach Rick Conner thinks...
By Josh Barr | October 13, 2008; 11:50 AM ET | Comments (9)
Groh Thinks Highly of WCAC
Virginia Coach Al Groh thinks highly of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. We've always been very, very aware of the overall circumstance of those schools," Groh said. "The quality of play, excellent academics, the sense of discipline. We're very tuned into them for quite some time. The overall circumstances worked...
By Josh Barr | October 10, 2008; 10:14 AM ET | Comments (1)
Not Your Typical Recruiting Story
For anyone who doesn't think that recruiting is an imperfect science, consider this story. I got an email earlier this week alerting me to the success of All-Met wide receiver Brandon Johnson-Farrell of Arundel, who is lighting it up as a freshman at Rhode Island. I remember last year, when...
By Josh Barr | October 10, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
Auburn Cans OC; Cotton Back on the Market?
Colleague Katie Carrera passes along this item on Auburn recruit Ray Cotton. The Meade quarterback picked the Tigers in part because of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who this week was fired: Raymond Cotton Sr. said his son Ray was "rather shocked" when he found out that Auburn had decided to...
By Josh Barr | October 10, 2008; 9:28 AM ET | Comments (22)
Small Forward Picks Navy
Big Boss Man Dan Uthman forwards this email from the folks at St. John's (Md.): Troy King, a senior at Saint John's (Md.), has verbally committed to Coach Billy Lange and the Naval Academy to continue his education and basketball career. During the 2007-2008 season, the 6-foot-7 small forward from...
By Josh Barr | October 8, 2008; 9:50 AM ET | Comments (4)
Eagle Bank Bowl All-Star Game on Hold for a Year
Talked to one of the game organizers this morning and he said it is simply too much work to try to pull off a high school football all-star game that would be held in conjunction with this year's game Dec. 20 at RFK Stadium. The plan is to hold an...
By Josh Barr | October 7, 2008; 2:49 PM ET | Comments (0)
Another Local Hoopster Makes Pick, Will Go to A-10
I'm trying to track down more information on this one, but a good source says that former Wise forward Maxie Esho has committed to play for Massachusetts. Esho, who is 6-7, did not play for the Pumas last season even though he was eligible and has since transferred to Lee...
By Josh Barr | October 7, 2008; 2:09 PM ET | Comments (2)
Indiana Done With Sanctions?
Here's one that every other school will be following closely. Indiana, in the aftermath of Kelvin Sampson's misdoings, says it expects no further penalties from the NCAA. The Hoosiers are operating four scholarships under the NCAA limit of 13 this season, but only one of those is related to Sampson's...
By Josh Barr | October 7, 2008; 12:13 PM ET | Comments (3)
Braswell, Dodson Make New Choices
Wow. Talk about a big day in local hoops recruiting. Chris Braswell and Darnell Dodson have found new homes. Braswell, who played at Suitland and DeMatha and previously committed to Georgetown, yesterday accepted a scholarship offer to play for Charlotte. His other suitors reportedly included Maryland, Virginia Tech and Indiana....
By Josh Barr | October 7, 2008; 9:31 AM ET | Comments (3)
Will Terps' Struggles Impact Recruiting?
Just when you're thinking how well things are going on the field for Maryland and how their recruiting probably will get a bump, they turn in Saturday night's stinker at Virginia. On Thursday night, Ralph Friedgen, offensive coordinator James Franklin, defensive coordinator Chris Cosh, recruiting coordinator Dave Sollazzo and running...
By Josh Barr | October 6, 2008; 11:37 AM ET | Comments (3)
Jenkins Taking His Time
Colleague Steve Yanda has a terrific read today on Good Counsel All-Met linebacker Jelani Jenkins and how he has handled all of the attention that goes along with being one of the nation's top recruit. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the whole recruiting process: While the growing trend is...
By Josh Barr | October 2, 2008; 2:12 PM ET | Comments (4)
How Lalich Ended Up at Oregon State
Want to know how U-Va. castoff Peter Lalich wound end at Oregon State? It started with Lalich making a list of major college programs whose universities run on the quarter system? Why is that important? Because by going to a school on the quarter system, Lalich somehow is able to...
By Josh Barr | October 1, 2008; 4:18 PM ET | Comments (2)
Terps Go to NYC for a Forward
Maryland added to its future roster, getting a commitment from 6-8 forward James Padgett of New York. He averaged nine points and nine rebounds last season and reportedly picked the Terrapins over Pittsburgh, who had just taken a commitment from Bishop McNamara's Talib Zanna....
By Josh Barr | October 1, 2008; 10:23 AM ET | Comments (7)
Penn State Plucks Another from the D.C. Area
Got word late last night that Westlake speedster Devon Smith has committed to play for Penn State, joining the line of players heading up U.S. 15 to State College. I'll have more on this later today or tomorrow....
By Josh Barr | October 1, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (7)
Another Stone Bridge Player Makes ACC Pick
Colleague Paul Tenorio, man of all things Loudoun, files this report: Stone Bridge senior quarterback Patrick Thompson will be joining his twin brother Zach Thompson at Wake Forest next season after accepting an offer from the Deamon Deacons on Sunday evening, according to their father, Bulldogs coach Mickey Thompson. Patrick...
By Josh Barr | October 1, 2008; 9:52 AM ET | Comments (0)
